Shauna + Tim + 2 Bunnies

Thursday, September 22, 2011

15 Day Challenge Link-Up: Day 9

Day 9: Describe someone who fascinates you.

I couldn't pick just one, so here are a few folks who's work have inspired and fascinated me over the years:

Charles Cross

Charles Cross is a rock journalist who influenced my career choices for years. I became obsessed with him after hearing him speak at a journalist conference in Seattle while I was in high school. Immediately after the conference, I ran to the book store and bought everything he wrote. To sum Cross up, he was a journalist in the music world who began to write biographies based on his own in depth research that he would conduct for years. You can see how his intricate research paid off; his Kurt Cobain biography was amazingly captivating and well worth a read for anyone, Nirvana fan or not. I was already planning on becoming a journalist at the time I met him, but he continued to be a big inspiration for me in the years to follow.

Ric O'Barry

Ric O'Barry is probably best known for his work on The Cove, a documentary about unnecessary and cruel dolphin slaughters taking place in Japan every year. O'Barry is originally known as the dolphin trainer from Flipper. He quickly changed his outlook on captivating dolphins when one of the five from Flipper committed suicide in his arms. Since then, he's become a major advocate to end dolphin and whale captivity all over the world. His passion is contagious, and I highly recommend watching The Cove if you haven't yet!

Jane Goodall

Everyone knows Goodall and her amazing life spent studying chimpanzees. She's someone who was so passionate about her work that she quite literally surrounded herself with chimps 24/7. It takes a lot of dedication to devote your life to a cause, and her research has provided quite the insight into the animal world. She's also a vegetarian ;)

Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

Both of these doctors were featured in the recent documentary Forks Over Knives for their discoveries in animal related health issues. Dr. Campbell is biochemist who was a main researcher on The China Study, which studied the practically non exist rate of cancers outside of the US, where animal products are consumed at a much lesser rate than here. Dr. Esselstyn is a physician who discovered that many cancers and other health issues can be reversed simply by adopting a vegan diet as opposed to maintaining a regimen of medications. I find both of these doctor's research to be fascinating, and have watched Forks Over Knives a dozen times. I highly recommend it!